VMware CEO says x86 not OK for mobile devices

Intel is trying to push its x86 architecture into everything, but VMware CEO Paul Maritz dismissed this strategy in a keynote at the Tiecon conference in Silicon Valley. Maritz explains x86 is unsuitable for mobile devices because it's a power hog with lots of unused gates.

“It’s a power hog, it loves electricity, all those [unused] gates are basically consuming power,” said VMware CEO Paul Maritz in a keynote at the last Tiecon conference in Silicon Valley.

For the former Intel executive, the problem boils down to Intel’s instruction set inherent complexity that has accumulated over the years to support functions that nobody uses anymore.